False alarms

Law enforcement officers have a dangerous enough job without pranksters calling in false alarms about a fellow police officer being injured.

Such was the case Wednesday when someone used a backup radio frequency to indicate that an officer was "down," a word used to indicate an injury or illness of some kind to a man or woman in a law enforcement uniform. As predictably happened, resources were scrambled to the intersection of 1000 East and St. George Boulevard, the given address for the incident.

Luckily, law enforcement officers showed up, as did firefighters and ambulance personnel to find that it was all a hoax. A roll call of officers on the radio indicated everyone was safe.

Our editorial board has a pretty good sense of humor and doesn't see anything wrong with a harmless joke. But this one is far from a harmless prank. And it wasn't funny at all. This incident should never have happened, and the fact that someone thought this kind of prank - that an officer had been wounded, injured or fallen ill - is simply inexcusable.

The person who called in on a law enforcement frequency - which is illegal - put many people at risk. Emergency personnel, who treat all calls as though they are the real thing, sped to the scene. Onlookers at that intersection stood around to watch, people driving by slowed and turned their heads to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.

All of those responses could have led to a real traffic accident. And let's not forget the anxiety heaped upon emergency personnel responding to a call of a comrade who has been injured in some way.

It's nearly impossible to track down people who do these kinds of things. And it's truly unfortunate that such a thing happened.

To whomever made the call, it's not funny. It was juvenile. And you put people in danger.

Grow up. Realize what you did and vow never to commit such a senseless and immature act again.

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False alarms

Law enforcement officers have a dangerous enough job without pranksters calling in false alarms about a fellow police officer being injured.